\u2026As African First Ladies gather in Banjul to address women\u2019s health and education gaps<\/b><\/p>\n
The First Lady of Nigeria, <\/span>Senator Oluremi Tinubu<\/span>, has called for stronger collaborations and partnerships to enhance healthcare systems, educational access, and family well-being across Nigeria and Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n She made the call at the <\/span>12th Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Committee Meeting<\/span> held in <\/span>Banjul, The Gambia<\/span>, where African First Ladies convened to discuss key health and social issues affecting women and children across the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n Highlighting some of the achievements of the <\/span>Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI)<\/span>, Senator Tinubu said the foundation continues to uplift families through programmes focused on <\/span>health, education, economic empowerment, social investment<\/span>, and <\/span>agriculture<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese programmes are designed to complement the efforts of my husband, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, towards ensuring a better life for Nigerian families,\u201d she stated.<\/span><\/p>\n According to her, the <\/span>RHI<\/span> has so far:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>Donated $2 million (naira equivalent)<\/span> to support <\/span>advocacy and treatment for cervical cancer and tuberculosis<\/span>, in a bid to eliminate both diseases by <\/span>2030<\/span>, in collaboration with local and international partners.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>Awarded annual scholarships to 47 indigent university students<\/span> for three consecutive years.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>Partnered with the Federal Ministry of Education<\/span> to award <\/span>1,500 additional scholarships<\/span> to indigent students pursuing <\/span>undergraduate and postgraduate degrees<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Nigerian First Lady commended <\/span>Senator Rasha Kelej<\/span>, CEO of the <\/span>Merck Foundation<\/span>, for the foundation\u2019s continuous support in advancing healthcare capacity in Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n Through the Merck Foundation, Nigerian doctors have benefited from:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>14 scholarships<\/span> for a one-year diploma in fertility and embryology, and a two-year master\u2019s degree in <\/span>sexual and reproductive care<\/span>, <\/span>women\u2019s health<\/span>, and <\/span>family medicine<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>40 scholarships<\/span> for one-year diploma and two-year master\u2019s programmes in <\/span>diabetes and endocrinology<\/span>, <\/span>preventive cardiovascular medicine<\/span>, <\/span>cardiology<\/span>, and <\/span>obesity and weight management<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 <\/span>3 scholarships<\/span> in <\/span>oncology research<\/span>, <\/span>medical oncology<\/span>, and <\/span>pain management<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Senator Tinubu expressed optimism that the collaboration between <\/span>RHI<\/span> and <\/span>Merck Foundation<\/span>will continue to grow, expanding the reach and impact of these life-changing interventions.<\/span><\/p>\n The Banjul meeting brought together several <\/span>African First Ladies<\/span>, including those from <\/span>The Gambia (host nation)<\/span>, <\/span>S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9<\/span>, <\/span>Central African Republic<\/span>, <\/span>Burundi<\/span>, and <\/span>Senegal<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Each shared updates on their respective interventions aimed at promoting <\/span>women\u2019s and children\u2019s health<\/span>, <\/span>education<\/span>, and <\/span>economic empowerment<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Senator Tinubu reaffirmed her commitment to collaborative action, emphasizing that partnerships built on shared values have the power to <\/span>transform communities and inspire lasting change<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI)<\/span> and the <\/span>Merck Foundation<\/span> share a unified vision \u2014 a <\/span>healthier, better-educated, and more empowered Nigeria<\/span>, and indeed, a stronger <\/span>Africa<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has called for stronger collaborations and partnerships to enhance healthcare systems, educational access, and family well-being across Nigeria and Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[129,456,11147,7255,11057],"class_list":["post-25237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","tag-education","tag-health-systems","tag-oluremi-tinubu","tag-partnerships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25239,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25237\/revisions\/25239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}